Last week, my mother and I went on a hunting spree. We packed our rations, ammo, and guns, of course, and came home with quite the heavy haul.

Ok, so we didn’t take any of those things, we did it all bare handed.

No. No. No. We went to the thrift stores. Now, if any of you have followed this blog, you know that I can’t control myself when I go into a thrift store. I just can’t; it’s a sickness. Remember this post, where I spent a small fortune in thrift-store terms on random treasures? Well, I did it again. I should be committed.

I went to the stores with a mission in mind. I needed things to use in my Christmas Pledge to create something every week for the blog. As you can see, I got some bottles, a tree-shaped jar, some beads, two brass horns, and some ornaments, among other none Christmas items. I bought tons, and tons of books that are not pictures here, plus the stuff that is, all for under 40 bucks.

Let’s take a closer look.

The beads, large jar, small silver jar, horns, two decanters, large artwork, chubby Hawaiian, small frame, and letter A all came from my local Goodwill. Either the woman behind the counter was having a really bad day, or a really awesome one, because she rang up four of my items, and then took to counting what was left, rang it all up for a dollar each, and gave me a price. She included my mother’s treasures, but since the grand total was 14 clams, I won’t make her pay me back. But Sister-In Law, when you open some of your presents, remember, Mamma may have done the dirty work, but I footed the bill!

The Christmas ornaments, and the tree-shaped jar, came from another thrift store, where I also picked up most of my books. There are six ornaments total, and they are made of heavy glass. They were listed for ten dollars, but at my mother’s nudging, I asked if they could do a little better. The manager gave me 25% off, making them more like 8.50. I guess I could take off the difference from what my mom owes; it was her idea.

I’ve been wanting a large letter A for a while, but they were always more than I wanted to pay. This one was a dollar. I felt that was fair. The book, in another language, is all about Ukrainian art. I liked some of the prints, so I forked over 29 cents, and I just happened to find the little frame, which will fit one of those Ukrainian prints perfectly. Hallway, here I come! And lastly, the chubby Hawaiian. He’s open in the back, and his base is stamped Benihana, and although I still can’t decide if he’s angry, with a cleft chin, or if he’s sticking his tongue out, he makes me laugh. And I’m a big proponent of “If it makes you smile, buy it!”